An Autumn of Bicycles

Clay is not the first medium I would think of which to make a bicycle so this commission has been, and is, an interesting challenge.

I had to think 'fat bike' tyres, and a hollow handle extrusion seemed to be the perfect thing, especially as it already had the ridge for the inner wheel.

I largely made it up as I went along, with just a rough sketch to scale and to see how it all fitted. I had originally thought, freestanding with one foot down so as to act as a tripod,  soon discovering that this was going to be a soft clay logistical nightmare. It needed a base as an anchoring point.

The figure has extruded arms and legs (hollow) and a thrown body and head. I'll add more colour at the glaze stage, I didn't dare use too much slip for fear of the thing collapsing.

 I have been drying him out very slowly, and fingers crossed for the kiln.

It's a full biscuit firing tonight with bicycle man at the back.

I said an Autumn of bicycles. It all kicked off with the the Dalbeattie Hard Rock Challenge Mugs. Rewarding in a different but uniformly satisfying way.

Next up (commission wise) is another car, what's this with transport?